Bars to Returning to the United States
Immigration Lawyer in Raleigh-Durham, NC
There are severe consequences for those who are unlawfully residing in the United States. It is illegal to be present in the United States without first obtaining a visa, green card, or other form of permission. This official permission comes from the U.S. immigration authorities. In the late 1990s, Congress established a penalty for those who maintain unlawful presence in the country. These are bars that prevent those individuals from returning to the U.S. for three or ten years, which are called "time bars." Time bars are given to those who are trying to return to the United States, not those who have the lawful right to apply for green cards to this country.
Immigration Enforcement
The three-year time bar is applied to those who have spent longer than 180 continuous days in the United States in an unlawful manner. For those who illegally remained in the country longer than one continuous year, a ten-year time bar can be applied. If a prior order of removal was issued - meaning that the alien was excluded, deported, or removed - and then he or she unlawfully reentered the country, then this individual can be issued a reinstatement of the prior order, which is obtained from the immigration court. People who commit criminal activity while living in the U.S. as non-citizens can be barred from ever returning. In addition to immigration violations, some of the most common crimes committed by aliens are drug offenses such as trafficking.
A North Carolina immigration attorney from Brown Immigration Law will help you if you have been barred from returning to the United States due to immigration fraud. Immigration fraud or misrepresentation refers to efforts to avoid requirements by deceiving, lying, or providing false representation, which can include providing a positive misrepresentation of information or failing to disclose important and required information.
If you have been barred from returning to the United States for any of the above reasons, contact Brown Immigration Law today!
